Pedal Retail Advisors was recently featured in the Washington Business Journal’s Small Biz Spotlight, highlighting our work helping independent retailers navigate commercial lease negotiations and retail real estate strategy.
The article focuses on a challenge we see every day: commercial leasing can be complex, high-stakes, and difficult for first-time retailers to navigate without in-house expertise.
Commercial Leasing Is a Structural Challenge for Small Retailers
The commercial real estate industry works well for established brands with internal real estate teams. It is far less intuitive for new and independent retailers.
Many founders enter lease negotiations without knowing:
-
...
We all know that Ben Franklin was right about death and taxes, but there’s another certainty of life that he left out. If I could Bill and Ted my way back to the 1790’s (no thanks), I think he’d agree that when you want something is rarely when you can have it...if you can have it at all.
Obviously I’m not talking about anything money can buy, since you can buy anything on the internet and have it within 2-3 business days. But for the big stuff that really matters -- security, health, relationships -- as hard as we will something into existence, we have limited control.
All we can do is dig deep and have hope and patience. Well, that’s exactly what Cara and Travis Loving did.
...
Last fall, I fell deeply in love with a dress. It was no ordinary dress; it was an ankle-length, sleeveless, v-neck and v-back, empire-waisted beauty with a geometric print in “peacock” and “cinnabar.” And the designer is German, and I got a 5 on my AP German exam, so that, too.
I saw the dress on the e-comm shop of my favorite brick-and-mortar store, so if I bought this dress I would not only be mind-blowingly fabulous, but I’d also be supporting an independent retailer. Aren’t I selfless?!
But there were two minor problems. One, I had literally no occasion to warrant purchasing a new dress, and two, there was no way I could afford this dress. But you know what we say over here — whe...
It’s the beginning of spring, and over here at Pedal we’re about to begin Babywatch 2024. In case you missed the news, or if you’re reading this like “why are they talking about a baby?” I’ll catch you up to speed.
Abby, Pedal cofounder and retail broker extraordinaire, is a few weeks away from having a baby. Her FIRST baby. So of course, I am very excited to welcome Abby into the club of women with no shame and limited bladder control on trampolines.
As you can imagine, in addition to our regular constant chatter about retail real estate, we’ve also been talking A LOT about childbirth and babies these past many months.
[If you’re now asking yourself, “oh my god, is this com...
